Yes, technically it is pilot season, but currently a lot of young actors and their parents are wondering if the traditional "Pilot Season" is being fazed out.

Well, let's back up a bit.  First of all, what is a pilot?

A pilot is the first episode of a television show or cable show and is kind of like a "test run." Generally a pilot is only seen by the heads of the television studios. However, if the pilot is picked up, it will air.  It is said that only one in every four pilots is "picked up" (meaning a TV or Cable Network has picked the pilot up for distribution), but the exact number of picked up pilots is not known. 

What is Pilot Season?

Pilot Season is the time of year when pilot episodes are given the greenlight for production and casting begins.  That's why so many families  travel to LA during pilot season to give acting a try; Actors who are lucky enough to book a lead role on a pilot, have a great opportunity to become a series regular if the show is picked up. Shows that are picked up carry sizable pay checks and residuals.

Traditionally, pilot season runs from around January (though some shows begin casting as early as November) to about May when the networks present their new shows to potential advertisers (after all, without advertisers a show can not truly be monetized).  

Today, however, the industry as a whole is changing.  There are so many new opportunities and mediums for us to express our art form.  Everything from the digital change-over to sites like Youtube and Hulu are putting the industry as we know it on its head.  And this leaves us to debate whether pilot season as we know it is over.